Performance Benefits of Diamond-like Carbon Liner Stressor in Strained P-Channel Field-Effect Transistors With Silicon–Germanium Source and Drain

We report the first investigation of the impact of diamond-like carbon (DLC) high-stress liner on strained p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (p-FETs) having silicon-germanium (SiGe) source-and-drain (S/D) stressor. The DLC exhibited a very high compressive stress of ~ 5 GPa. At a fixed I _off of 1 x 10^-7 A/mum, the DLC liner stressor contributed to a further 11% I _on enhancement for p-FETs with Si_0.75Ge_0.25 S/D. This is the first demonstration that further boost in device performance in a p-FET that is already strained using Si_0.75Ge_0.25 S/D can be achieved with DLC liner stressor. Due to the extremely high intrinsic compressive stress of the DLC, a very small DLC thickness of ~ 27 nm is sufficient for achieving significant strain effect and performance enhancement.